How to Improve a Call to Action on Your Website

Are you getting the traffic to your website you deserve? You might have terrific visuals and engaging content but there is a key element that could be affecting your conversions. That would be the call-to-action.

This is where you encourage your potential customer to do what you want them to do – either to buy something, signup for an email newsletter or ask for more information.  It doesn't matter if you're selling goods or services a potential buyer always needs that extra little push.

You can improve your call to action by following these helpful tips:

Have an action button: Instead of burying your call to action within an article, why not have a separate free-floating button? Click here for more information. Buy now. Add to cart. Order today. Those are all wonderful examples of action buttons. Even something as simple as "Get a Free Quote" can provoke your customer into action. Besides, we all like pushing buttons!

Have the right color: You don't have time to test several shades of a color for an action button so you'll just have to rely on what has worked in the past. Orange, red and green have been shown to boost conversion rates. Don't ask for an explanation; just use them!

Have your CTA appear at the right time: Nobody wants to be hit over the head with a hard sale right out of the box. That's why your call to action needs to be properly placed within the customer’s buying cycle. Let your customer get some information before asking them to act.

Have a clear design: This is obviously more important with selling a product then a service. When you've got a tangible good to sell make sure the graphics lets everyone see exactly what they are getting. For instance, suppose you're selling a program that includes a DVD and a booklet. Show a picture of the box, the DVD and the booklet. The more visuals you can show, the stronger position you'll be into close the sale.

Give a freebie: Provide something for the new prospect free of charge so that they get a taste of what you offer. Remember, reduce the risk for your prospect to purchase.  

Have some whitespace: You don't need to clutter up your website with copy and graphics to get your point across. Perhaps placing your call to action in some open whitespace will actually draw more attention to it.

All of these tips are meant to be experimented with. Mix it up and track your analytics. The more you test, the better off you'll be to find the right call to action that converts well for your business. 

Email Subject Lines That Get the Most Open Rates

How many emails do you get in a day? More importantly, how many of those emails do you delete or read?

That is the same issue facing your customers when you send out an email blast. You want to entice them to open up that email and get at the contents. It all comes down to your subject lines. Are you doing what you can to get the most open rates? 

Try these steps to improve your subject line:

Step One: Use Your Company Name

This should appear in the "From" portion of the email. This approach can work both ways. If your company is new then the recipient might click on to see what this is all about. If you've already built up a relationship then you want your customer to know what you're sending has value. Remember you're in fierce competition when it comes to breaking through the average email inbox.

Step Two: Use Capitals

By now anyone who is familiar with online etiquette knows that when you type in capitols you are essentially using "exclamation." This doesn't mean you have to "scream" your entire subject line but break it up with capitals. For instance:

YOUR COMPANY NAME: Special offer for an amazing product

Step Three: Use a Follow Up

Often it will be helpful to follow-up an email with another email within the same week. The body can be the same but the subject line can change to reflect something current. Make it fresh and applicable to your customer's needs. Tell them upfront what you're offering in as few words as possible.

Step Four: Use an Invite

"Time is running out." Nobody likes to read that especially if it means we'll be missing out on a good deal. Your subject line can incorporate an invitation that makes it seem like a special arrangement just for that viewer. In many ways this can be an indirect call to action as you are setting a time limit on a response. That's a very clever and proactive way to increase sales.

Step Five: Use Spell Check

The worst thing you can do is send out a sloppy subject line. Make sure you've checked and double-checked for proper spelling and grammar. Let someone else check it before you sent it out. Once you hit that send button it's gone and can't be taken back.

You might find that a particular subject line works wonders for your conversion rates. That's great and you can certainly use a variation on that theme but always try to keep your messages fresh. If there is a way you can capitalize on what is trending on Google or Twitter all the better because you know that's what everyone is talking about for that day. 

Write an eBook and Promote Your Brand

If there is one thing folks like getting it is something for free. Whether that's a food sample at a grocery store or free shipping, freebies are a decent way to build up customer loyalty and increase sales. It might seem odd to make money by giving away stuff but that is often the case.

With an online business it's challenging to come up with that free item to attract customers. However, there is one item that could be a big benefit to your company and your brand. That would be an eBook.

An eBook is probably better thought of as a self-published extended pamphlet. Most business eBooks are anywhere between 10 to 50 pages and contain plenty of graphics and photos. You don't need to be the next Hemingway to create an eBook. In fact, there are many reputable companies which can do the work for you.

So why have an eBook giveaway? Consider these benefits:

Increased Conversion Rate

In the world of online marketing, a conversion is when a recipient performs an action that you want on your site. By offering them a free eBook as an incentive to subscribe or join your website, it increases your conversions.  

Increased Subscriptions

You should have a newsletter that promotes your online business. The more customers who subscribe to your company newsletter the bigger your email list will become (see above!). Visitors to your site who aren't on your mailing list can join when they register to receive their eBook. It's a kind of quid pro quo incentive.

Increased Promotion

If you're plugged into social media (and you should be) then releasing an eBook to your already loyal customers is a great way to generate increased promotion. You can encourage those folks on your network to share the eBook with their friends. If the eBook is engaging and informative then they won't have any problem sharing.

Increased Customer Awareness

An eBook allows you to provide information about top selling products or services and also launch new ones. Just because you have a customer who made a purchase and subscribed to your newsletter doesn't mean they are aware of everything your company does. Let the eBook spread the good news. 

BONUS! Download our free small business eBooks:

Online Marketing Primer

Small Business Management Primer

Measuring Your Social Media Campaign Success

Determining the success of a social media campaign comes down to an issue of metrics. The following are the top three metrics you should be looking at when gauging the success of your social media strategy.

Active participation: A quick snapshot of any social media campaign is to look at the number of users who are accessing your social media profiles. With Facebook, it would be the number of “likes.” With Twitter, it would be the number of retweets. However, these numbers aren’t the only ones you should be studying. Go deeper. The key to social media is engagement. For instance, Facebook provides its page administrators with a detailed analysis of  the percentage of comments generated and views. The other networks have metrics such as page views and mentions that can also indicate the kind of volume your company is attracting.  

Your bounce rate. Are your visitors arriving at your site from your social media profiles but leaving immediately? Take a look at the time spent on your website from your different traffic sources. If you find that visitors are spending less than a minute on your website, then maybe your landing page needs better copy. Or maybe you’re attracting the wrong audience.

Conversions: You want social media campaigns to convert, either into subscriptions, sales or any other items that you’re offering as part of your sales funnel.  If your sales increase after launching a successful social media campaign, then it worked. However, those numbers can also be used to determine the return on investment when it comes to expanding your reach. For instance, if you have a 5% increase in sales with a 10% increase in site traffic then it follows the more traffic, the more sales.

Not all of the metrics are simple to track and may require some advanced tools. It’s very important to take the time to have the right measurement and analytical tools in place before you start a social media campaign. Without the right tools, you won’t be able to determine if your campaigns were successful or an abysmal failure.

How do you measure your business' social media success?